Child Welfare

How Do I Adopt?

Step 1 - Contact Us

Step 2 - Informational Meeting

Once you have made contact with us and our staff have gone over the general requirements of our adoption program
[such as minimum age, residency etc.] you will be invited to attend an informational meeting, with other families
wishing to adopt. Our staff will:

Explain the ages and characteristics of the children with special needs that we have for placement.

Help your family to develop and clarify your expectations about your abilities to meet these special needs of our
children.

Discuss the eligibility standards of our agency.

Talk about the stages of the adoptive and foster care process and reasonable times for completing these stages.

Step 3 - Adoptive and Foster Family Training

You will then be invited to attend our Adoptive and Foster Family Training, which consists of 24 hours of
preparatory training for parenting children with special needs. This is done in eight weekly sessions, lasting
three hours each, or over four consecutive Saturdays. The sessions include the grief and loss process, how children
come into care, working as a team to meet the needs of a child, how to cope with challenging behaviors in children
and many other core issues in foster and adoptive care. These classes are taught by experienced adoptive and foster
parents.

Step 4 - Family Study

You and your family will be asked to write autobiographies and participate in a series of interviews with a social
worker. These interviews allow you and the social worker the opportunity to discuss your family's history and
functioning, including your strengths and challenges, and how that may play out by adopting a child with special
needs.

Step 5 - Matching and Placement

After you have completed the training and study process, and are approved as meeting our agency standards, you
will given a regular photo-listing of children available for adoption in Maine and matched according to the child's
needs and your ability to meet those needs. Our focus is on finding families for children.

Once the match is made between a child[ren] and your family, a complete presentation of the child's history and
needs is made. Then a negotiation process is done to provide adoption assistance to your family, dependent on the
needs of the child[ren] and the circumstances of your family. This is followed by a "visitation" time
which can last from several days to several weeks, depending on the needs of the individual child/family.

Step 6 - Post-Placement

Once a child[ren] are placed in your home full-time, you will have regular home visits to
help "fine-tune" the adjustment issues. These visits will continue at least 6 months, until the agency
can recommend the adoption be legalized in court. You may choose an attorney to represent you in court. After the
adoption hearing in probate court, you will then have sole legal responsibility for your child.

Step 7 - Post-Legalization Adoption Services

We believe that adoption is a lifelong process. All adopting families experience normal "developmental"
crisis in their lifetimes. DHHS provides an Adoption Assistance Program and through this subsidy, and medical
insurance through Medicaid, many services are able to be accessed and funded. Our caseworkers are available to
provide consultation and referral for services. This includes post-legalization parent support groups.